Russia and Türkiye are working on eliminating issues with bank payments provoked by sanctions, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.
Speaking at a press briefing in Moscow, Peskov said Moscow and Ankara are persistently looking for a way out of the situation.
"In all financial matters, contacts at the working level are maintained constantly with the goal to find a way out of this situation. Certain problems are indeed present, but the cause of these problems is obvious. This causes serious damage to the interests of both our and Turkish economic operators," he stressed.
When asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin's possible visit to Türkiye, Peskov said the exact dates have yet to be finalized.
"Contacts at the highest level are being made. The terms of the Russian-Turkish contacts at the highest levels have not been determined yet. But the understanding that they (contacts) will take place in the foreseeable future is present," Anadolu Agency (AA) quoted Peskov as saying.
Türkiye, which shares a maritime border with both Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea, has sought to maintain good ties with both nations since Moscow's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Türkiye has not sanctioned Russia, but its banks have been facing a risk of secondary sanctions for trading with Russian entities.
Banks are said to have expanded scrutiny of transactions related to Russia to avoid being subject to U.S. sanctions, leading to prolonged money transfers.
Turkish exporters to Russia earlier this year said they faced more payment problems recently due to year-end auditing, but the situation should get better soon.
Regarding the flooding in Russia's southern Orenburg region, Peskov said local authorities work hard to handle the natural disaster.
The city of Orsk was flooded on Friday following a dam breach, and almost 6,200 people were evacuated from the affected area, according to the Emergency Situations Ministry.
Orenburg region governor Denis Pasler said the situation is developing due to the worst-case scenario, as the water continues rising and has, in several places, exceeded the level considered "dangerous."
Commenting on the arrival of German troops in Lithuania, announced by the latter's Foreign Minister Laurynas Kasciunas, Peskov said Moscow sees the move as a "further escalation of tension," a new threat near the country's borders.
The spokesperson said the same is relevant to the Japanese-U.S. military cooperation, adding that the presence of the U.S. troops in Japan has always been an obstacle for Moscow and Tokyo to sign a peace agreement after World War II.
The Kremlin spokesperson also condemned the attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as a "dangerous provocation."
Russia said Ukraine struck the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station controlled by Russian forces three times on Sunday and demanded the West respond, though Kyiv said it had nothing to do with the attacks.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has experts at the site, said it was the first time the nuclear plant, Europe's largest, was directly targeted since November 2022 and said the attack had endangered nuclear safety.
"This is a very dangerous provocation. The IAEA staff who are on-site had the opportunity to witness these attacks. This is a very dangerous and potentially nasty tactic. Unfortunately, the Kyiv regime continues its terrorist activity," Peskov said.
Russian authorities said Ukraine launched Sunday drone attacks on the Zaporizhzhia plant – on the staff and cargo areas and the dome of the sixth power unit, which left three of the plant's employees wounded.
IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi called the attack "reckless" and urged refraining from actions that threaten the plant.
Reuters was unable to verify battlefield accounts from either side immediately.
Russian forces took control of the plant in 2022, shortly after their full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Both Moscow and Kyiv have repeatedly accused each other of risking a nuclear accident by attacking the plant.
